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Poland Builds a Solar-Powered Bike Path That Glows Blue At Night (techcrunch.com)
Poland recently unveiled a new solar-powered bike path in the town of Pruszkow that is built with "light-emitting material" that gets its power from the sun. While the bike path has the potential to glow multiple different colors, the path in Prusczkow glows a cool blue for up to 10 hours in the dark. TechCrunch reports: The company that made it, TPA sp. z o.o, is an engineering firm focused on future tech. They expect this sort of road to be useful in larger projects -- highways, say -- but for now they're limiting it to bike paths until they can test the material in the wild. They said that this type of path may be installed in Warsaw soon and that it can glow multiple colors. The lane uses luminophores -- chemicals that "ingest" light -- to keep the bike path nicely lit at night. They chose blue to "match the Mazurian landscape" where lakes abound. You can read a bit more at Gazeta Wyborcza if your Polish isn't too rusty or you can just bask in the cold beauty of a glowing bike lane in deepest Poland.
North Korea at night?
Well, that's a very convoluted way of saying they covered the path with glow-in-the-dark paint.
Aren't we worried about LED streetlights that emit too much blue light? Now we're making the bike pathways glow blue?
Chernobyl had this first.
But they chose Tritium Yellow.
You have to read the linked article; the same kewl blue was used to make the first chalk outline where the body was found by homicide cops.
If there will ever be that rare instance when you actually read a slashdot article, NOW is the time.
WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
Yeh, seems to be a fluorescent stuff called 'Star Path' in the US and other brands elsewhere:
http://www.pro-teqsurfacing.com/starpath-pro/
But still pretty, something I've never seen before.
See! This is what fear-mongering does! It makes people imagine bad things everywhere all the time!
Of course you didn't - they built it with screen doors!
How many Polacks does it take to change a lightbulb?
None, they just cover everything with glow in the dark paint.
It's amazing how those new technologies revolutionize the world and make it a better place. The innovations are the key to societal transformation. I hope all the Sanders supporters will learn this lesson and start thinking globally, acting locally.
Jeeez, can't ANYBODY give them credit for applying an energy-efficient lighting solution for the bikers? They deserve as much attention (if not more, since they aren't gas-guzzlers) as any segment of the population. Additionally, if the trial proves to be effective, it will be applied to roadways for increased safety for the motorists.
redneck geek
It's a DUMB idea. As someone who rides in the night, your eyes get used to the dark, there's enough light from the moon, and my LED headlights are more than enough. This chemical shit will just aggravate nocturnal animals and add more toxins to the environment.
All discussions must be put in the context of gender and racial inequality in America. I would like to submit that if President Obama would have created this bike path by spending 10 billion USD all the liberals would be applauding it. However since it was invented by Poles (aka evil white crackers) we must hate this and and want the UN to outlaw polish bike paths because they could hasten crackergenic global climate change. Did you notice that there are no African Americans riding on this polish bike path. The reason is obviously that poles (aka whites) hate blacks.
Let's discuss this in terms of Partisan USAian politics.
If you hang out too long on the glow in the dark bike path you can get the abortion that is denied you under any form of Polish law.
errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
It's not a dumb idea, nor is it particularly bright (in the literal sense ;) ).
The path isn't comprised of a bunch of LEDs, it's basically coated with a durable glow-in-the-dark paint. That's a low-intensity light that won't be blinding by any stretch, and is actually a pretty good idea. As someone who actually rides at night (I commute ~2,500 miles/year on my bike), I'd welcome something like this as it'd be just bright enough to expose things, like branches or people walking in dark clothing, in the path before you're right up on them. Moreover, I'd welcome this over using street lamps to light the paths I take that are currently unlit, since, as I mentioned, this would entail more of a dull glow than a harsh light.
Also, your solution is to use the moon? I take it that there's always a full moon and clear skies where you are?
"Is not a sentence" is not a sentence. Well damn.
I'm not in favour of anything that encourages people to ride at night without lights, so be hard to see.
If a bike has lights, even dim ones, standard cateye-reflective paint is better, cheaper, and works after overcast winter days.
Anyone who has used it knows. You can tell this is a very long exposure picture by the city glow in the background.
It's bunk.
Nissan painted a LEAF (car) in it recently and also used the same trick of long exposures to make it look like it wasn't just a dim, laughable glow.
http://lkml.org/lkml/2005/8/20/95
Despite the a/c's crude phrasing, we should be careful about introducing large amounts of anything new into the environment. I was just reading about "Project Plowshare", an idea in the '60s to use nuclear bombs to remodel the earth for engineering projects. Does anyone still think that's a good idea (not you Donald)?
Britain's rivers and lakes polluted by microplastics in paint used for road markings
Despite the a/c's crude phrasing, we should be careful about introducing large amounts of anything new into the environment. I was just reading about "Project Plowshare", an idea in the '60s to use nuclear bombs to remodel the earth for engineering projects. Does anyone still think that's a good idea (not you Donald)?
Britain's rivers and lakes polluted by microplastics in paint used for road markings
I'm pretty sure this blue glowing paint is not powered by nuclear bombs - it would be somewhat brighter if that were the case, and would have a noticeable affect on maintenance costs.
This is what you earthlings call a joke, yes? but still the article has a cautionary note that the environmental effects are unknown.
The moon doesn't always shine, and even when it does, it's not bright enough to make you see AND BE SEEN. Put lights on your bikes. The current generation of LED headlights from Busch & Müller (en.bumm.de) does an amazing job lighting the path and the sides without dazzling oncoming traffic. You almost forget it's night with one of those lights. I'm not kidding.
This is Poland, not America. People are generally safe in Poland and the police knows what a cell phone is and won't shoot you when you pull one out of your pocket.
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
Well, in Europe, people and animals are actually used to street lights. This is not the DPRK.
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
This is Europe, not California. Europeans know not to lick the bicycle paths.
Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
Phosphorescent paint isn't dangerous per se but it could have an impact in fauna at night... if the street at the side is not enough :v
What stalkers? Poland is one of the safest country on Earth, unlike the US.
Where do you morons come up with this shit? How can you compare this to Project Plowshare?
I'll explain it simply, just for you. What was thought to be a good idea fifty years ago would now be looked upon as an unacceptable environmental disaster. Now shut the fuck up, Donald.
My solution is using a decent bike light. Why people still insist on riding without one, or when they have one using it only to warn oncoming cars with a little blinky light is beyond me.
LEDs were good enough to light up a path in front of me with a little (at the time lead acid but now...) lithium battery for several days worth of a commute between charges. Setup the beam pattern so it's equivalent to a cars, and nuke the path in front of you with as much light as you want.
You could take this to extremes too. My friend asked me to come diagnose his lights because he kept getting electrocuted. When I saw the HID light wired on his bike frame I just shook my head, but hey with those he could see in a black hole, no glowing paint needed.
I suspect this effects the lighting environment less then alternate means such as street lights.
As for bike lights ... I don't bike anymore due to health, but when I did I would not use a light powered by a generator. I wanted all my power to go into motion. Batteries would be a mess environmentally. Not to mention that I would probably forget to have a fresh paiora lot of the time.
This would not be so great illuminating streets, but there you would have brighter lights for cars.
I remember commuting home along the Chicago lake shore.. I would have welcomed a little ambient light that did not destroy the queit darkness of the night..
There were also places where driving was nasty because the street lights didn't work quite right were this sort of lighting would be welcomed./
There is a path like this near Eindhoven, themed like Van Gogh's 'Starry Night'. http://www.holland.com/global/...
This is Poland we're talking about, so I wouldn't be so sure...
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Jeeez, can't ANYBODY give them credit for applying an energy-efficient lighting solution for the bikers?
No, because they haven't done that. It would be a lot cheaper to put normal paint with reflective particules in it down, and let people's bicycle lights illuminate it. You already need one to safely ride at night; for the parts of your journey that aren't on a cycle path, so that you don't hit an oncoming cyclist on the cycle path, so that you don't run over a rock or a tack on the cycle path... This solves zero problems and costs money better spent elsewhere.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
The "Solar-Powered" part is just clickbait. Yea, strictly speaking it is solar powered, but "glow-in-the-dark paint" is more descriptive (and boring). It'll never provide enough light to be more that a cute gimmick.
I like what they did on the pedestrian side where they just marked the edges and put in the occasional pedestrian sign. It would have been good if they did the same to the cycle path. There's no need to have the whole path covered. Just outline the path so that people can see where it's going.
This stuff would be better on foot paths and as trail markers rather than as bike path lighting. Put it on places like along the edge of stairs to mark trip hazards and the like.
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
This isn't a replacement for a bike light any more than street lamps are a replacement for car headlights; it's there to augment night vision, that's all.
I've got a good headlight for my bike, and I use it at night all the time, but it still has its limitations. Have you never come across something, like a stray branch or random hunk of metal, when you're biking at night? These things are often dark, not particularly reflective, and laying on a dark surface, so they're easy to miss until you're basically running over them, even with a bright headlight to light the way ahead. Having a dull backlight that exposes these things due to occlusion of that light would, for me at least, be very helpful.
I'd also note that this applies to people walking on bike paths at night as well. Speaking personally, I've actually run into someone on an unlit bike path (I was almost able to slam on the brakes in time, so it wasn't major) because I didn't see them -- dressed all in black, no less -- until I was right on top of them. Why didn't I see them? Because there was no ambient light, and the path was curving at that point, so my headlight, being fairly directional, wasn't able to shine directly on them until I was right on top of them. Incidentally, a glowing path would be useful for exposing turns on unfamiliar paths as well.
So, yeah, I've got a good headlight, but I've experienced its limitations, and can see how Poland's solution would address those limitations without costing a bunch in infrastructure, without requiring external power generation, and without introducing overly-bright lights lining bike paths. Assuming that this isn't some environmental catastrophe (I'm assuming it's no better or worse than highway paint), I think this is a pretty good idea.
"Is not a sentence" is not a sentence. Well damn.
They say it can be in multiple colors, and they chose blue. You don't use blue at night because it screws with people's sleep rhythms.
Drivers need to have these glow so they can stay off of them!
Most Respectfully Yours Mark Allyn Bellingham, Washington
It could be useful for the lane marker paint to make it easier to see at night, especially when on a winding road with lots of turns just out of reach of your headlights.
Poland is hindering the EU in being more effective reducing CO2 emissions because they want to protect their coal. Instead of actively steering the transformation, they try to stop it. Such solar-something toys are only tokenism and has no real effect. Neither do they test new technology nor do they help to proliferate existing technology. It is even worse than that what the Germans do. It is like politicians have not understood that we have to be carbon free be 2040/2050 (depending on the reduction curve). You cannot negotiate a later date with nature, because nature doesn't give a damn.
I'd also note that this applies to people walking on bike paths at night as well.
Oh yes this gives me the shits. I run on bike paths at night but I dress in bright colours and I also have an LED running band.
But really it is still sad that we are talking about augmenting vision when the vast majority of cyclists don't put in basic efforts into their lights. (I live in the Netherlands, we have a lot of cyclists).
It's a DUMB idea. As someone who rides in the night, your eyes get used to the dark, there's enough light from the moon, and my LED headlights are more than enough.
But to car drivers you are a dark object in front of a dark background and therefore a potential road-kill at night. Hopefully, the bike rider is more visible to car drivers due to lighting from this glowing path.
My friend asked me to come diagnose his lights because he kept getting electrocuted.
Amazing. How many times was your friend killed? And how was he brought back to life? This is real news!
Dude, my country has a recorded history that predates yours, so please don't assume shit when you know nothing.
But it's Polish jokes you want? Ok, here we go.
Polish tourism campaign: Visit Poland! Your car already does.
Why do Russian car thieves steal two cars in Germany? Because they know they still have to go through Poland.
Why was Germany so happy when Ratzinger was elected Pope? Because it was the first time a German took a job from a Polish guy.
What does the warranty for Polish Battleships say? Void if brought in contact with water.
Who won the Miss Poland contest? An Ukrainian woman.
Why do we know that Christ wasn't born in Poland? Because the story talks about three wise men and a virgin.
What do you do when the Polish throw a Grenade at you? Pull the pin and throw it back.
How was copper wire invented? The Pole and the town Jew found a penny at the same time.
How do you put on Polish underwear? Yellow to the front, brown to the back.
What's the long and hard thing a Polish bride gets at her wedding day? A last name.
Oh, and by the way, don't let anyone tell you to polish up your English. I think your English is Polish enough.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Why was Germany so happy when Ratzinger was elected Pope? Because it was the first time a German took a job from a Polish guy.
And why did they elect a Polish pope in the first place?
Because the Italians wouldn't give a 90 day warranty.